


A Cruel Twist of Fate

by Daximed



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 03:56:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3366866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daximed/pseuds/Daximed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, so the hole in the sky is closed, the random fade rifts have been taken care of, everything is peachy, right?<br/>Except the mark never quite… Goes away when everything else ends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cruel Twist of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this to my tumblr a few days ago, and I got some good feedback if you count "omg no why would you do this how dare you" as good HAH
> 
> It's just a quicky ficlet to get my headcanon about the Inquisitor's anchor into words.  
> I tried to make it as non-personalized as possible so you can imagine your own Inquisitor and their LI going through the motions.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Okay, so the hole in the sky is closed, the random fade rifts have been taken care of, everything is peachy, right? Except the mark never quite… Goes away when everything else ends.  
So the Inquisitor shrugs it off, “I have more important things to worry about”, treats it as another scar to add to the list on their body even though this one just so happens to be green. 

It’s not until a few months pass that the Inquisitor notices that little green mark sort of… Well no, definitely has stretched to their wrist.  
It’s unsettling at first, but they brush it off again. They start wrapping their hand with a thick cloth to get rid of the dim light, and to cover it’s apparent progress.

Days turn to months turn to years until one day their LI walks in on the Inquisitor applying the thick bandages to their wrist. Only it’s not just their hand anymore. The dim green marking has wound it’s way up to their tricep, iridescent green tendrils branching off like roots.  
The LI makes a grab for the Inquisitor’s arm, staring at the mark in disbelief.

"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"It’s not important, don’t worry about it."  
"Bullshit, don’t tell me not to worry about this." 

The LI makes the Inquisitor promise them to come to them immediately if it gets worse. The Inquisitor promises. 

It gets worse. The Inquisitor doesn't say anything.  
The LI notices the Inquisitor favoring their chest one day. They’ll move their hand along their collarbone, fingers pressing in deep enough to mark the skin as if looking for relief. The LI corners them in private. 

"Show it to me."  
"Look, I told you it’s not-"  
"SHOW ME." 

A beat. The Inquisitor sighs, turning momentarily to remove their shirt. Staring at the Inquisitor’s back, the LI can see that those little green roots have begun weaving themselves down the Inquisitor’s shoulder blade. When the Inquisitor turns, the LI tenses. The bandages on the Inquisitor’s arm do nothing to hide the fact that the mark has spread down to their chest. 

"You promised you’d tell me." 

The Inquisitor shallows, lowering their head and glancing to the side. 

"I didn't want you to be scared for me."  
"Of course I would, who do you take me for?"  
"Then I guess… I didn't want both of us to be scared." 

The Inquisitor confesses how increasingly anxious they have become once the chest pains began a week or so ago. They take in a hitched breath, pausing mid-sentence and swallowing shallowly again. The LI frowns, running their hand along the inquisitor’s clenched jaw. 

"What? What’s wrong?"  
"I don’t know what will happen when it reaches my heart." 

It happens fast.  
What took years to spread takes one month to finish. The Inquisitor is plagued by sharp pains throughout their body, as if the mark has reached inside of them and begun tearing through everything in it’s path. They’re bedridden the last week, the LI never leaving their side unless absolutely necessary. 

There’s no big show about it at the end. The mark doesn't explode. There are no fade rifts created from it. Nothing flashy or fancy.  
One minute, the LI is holding the Inquisitor’s hand as the Inquisitor looks to them, a sudden realization in their eyes. The next, the Inquisitor’s eyes seem to dim, the mark’s glow suddenly fading.  
In it’s place, a rough looking series of scars now wrap around the inquisitor’s limp body. 

To save the world only to be taken from it by the one thing that stopped it from ending is truly a cruel twist of fate.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr!  
> http://daximed.tumblr.com/
> 
> My lovely friend Iz made a companion fanart piece to this of her Inquisitor and Dorian! Go check it out!  
> http://izzlerizzle.tumblr.com/post/110866264015/you-promised-youd-tell-me-the-inquisitor


End file.
